Chapter Nine

Castor stood at the front of the chapel beside Marrok, who appeared as cool as ever while he waited for his bride. Not being a love match, and more of a business deal, that was probably about right. Except they were going to have to go through the mating tonight. Wolf shifters had strange traditions.

Like the exterior, built in natural stone, the interior of the building was simple, constructed of thick pine logs. Pews carved from matching wood stood in rows with a single aisle down the center, a deep red velvet carpet leading up to the altar and pulpit. Floor-to-ceiling windows at the front revealed an incredible view of the lake, which glittered under the brilliant light of the full moon.

Kaios was already seated in the front row. Marrok had pointed the werewolf out when he’d come in, commenting that he and Tala had been shocked when the man had shown up unannounced.

“We invited them, of course. All our ancestors are invited. But werewolves don’t usually bother with wolf-shifter matings,” Marrok had said. “It must be because we’re both alphas.”

Castor had murmured something vague and hoped to Hades that was the case, though the better scenario was for the werewolf to move on before he caught sight of Lyleia.

Marrok suddenly gave a low whistle.

“What?”

“Did you see Leia before coming here?”

“Yes.”

“Was she dressed for the wedding yet?”

“No.” She’d preferred to come to the ceremony without him, a decision that had bothered him more than it should. She’d muttered something about needing to sit near the back. Whatever that meant. Best guess, she was avoiding the werewolf who’d ruined her identity as a nymph. The only thing keeping him from ripping out the bastard’s neck when they’d been introduced ten minutes earlier was not wanting to ruin his friend’s important day. That, and Leia had warned him not to before he’d left the hotel.

Dark laughter lurked in Marrok’s voice. “Let’s just say you’re going to need a very large stick.”

Stick? What the fuck was Marrok talking about? “Why?”

“To beat off the wolves.”

His friend was obviously enjoying the hilarity of the situation but had to be mistaken. Leia was gorgeous, but she didn’t flaunt her beauty, tending to dress on the conservative side. Besides, he doubted she wanted to call attention to herself with Kaios here.

He scanned the crowds filing in at the back of the chapel. “I don’t see her.”

“Navy dress. Her hair is up.”

Navy sounded right. Conservative. The way his nymph liked to dress.

He caught a flash of blue and the top of her golden blond hair piled high on her head. Then the tuxedoed man blocking most of her from view stepped aside. What was Marrok talking about? While she looked incredible to him—his body started to heat up and harden at the sight of her like it always did—he harbored feelings for her. Given the way the other ladies were dressed, he doubted Leia had anything to worry about with the wolves.

The dress was long, draping to the floor, the top gathered over her right shoulder. No cleavage showed. A thin slit at her hip showed a sliver of flat belly. Sexy as all Hades. But still covered up compared to the skin on display from the lady wolves. Leia appeared classy in a room full of overdone.

She caught his eye and waved. Her lips, painted bright pink, stretched wide in a smile. Castor caught his breath as his stomach clenched in response. Her smile was for him alone. How he knew, he wasn’t entirely sure. His heart hadn’t tripped over itself like this since he’d captured his wife. Only this was different, not stronger exactly, but…different. Hilaera had been familiar, his love tender. With Leia he was all fire and need and protectiveness. Leia pointed at the back pew, indicating where she intended to sit.

Someone he couldn’t see snagged her attention, though she seemed reluctant to turn away from him, but she did.

Castor inhaled sharply.

The back to the dress was…there was no damn back to the dress. The garment was held in place by a thin strap or two across her shoulders and dipped low to a point above her curvy derriere. Barely above.

“Holy hell.” His body, already charged by the intimate smile she’d graced him with, responded rapidly. He shifted his stance, trying to ease his discomfort. In the meantime, every man around her did a double take. What was she thinking?

His friend had the temerity to chuckle. “You’re a lucky man.”

“She’s my assistant.”

“Right.”

Yeah. He didn’t believe it, either. Not with how much he wanted her—a desire that went way beyond the physical. Her humor, her prickliness, her intelligence, her vulnerable strength all combined to make her the woman she was. A woman he craved with a fierce need that seemed to wrap around him now.

Unable to leave the front where he stood with Marrok, Castor kept a close eye on Kaios, in case the werewolf discovered Leia’s presence and decided to make trouble. Meanwhile, he gritted his teeth as, one after another, men introduced themselves to Leia.

Mine. He had the strangest urge to hurl the claim at them, but she wasn’t his. Yet. Besides, he didn’t behave like an uncouth youth. Ever. This woman was driving him out-of-his-mind crazy.

Leia politely conversed with each potential suitor, sending them away in short order. Eventually she sat, her gaze seeking him again. He chuckled when she rolled her eyes, his own tension easing a smidge. Those other men stood zero chance.

Twenty minutes later, the double doors to the church opened to admit the bride. Beside him, Marrok stilled as the entire church hushed.

Tala was radiant in a form-fitting dress that hugged her lithe body to her knees where it flared out. She’d left her chin-length dark blond hair down, her veil framing her lovely face. Every man in the place had to reel their tongues back in.

“You’re the lucky man,” Castor murmured.

“I hope so.”

Castor didn’t comment, too busy observing Leia.

Rather than watch the bride, she’d turned, he guessed to see Marrok’s reaction. Her expression softened, and her gaze slipped to him. Finding Castor staring at her, she yanked her gaze back to Tala, a soft blush coloring her cheeks.

Satisfaction tore through him. Leia wasn’t indifferent. She couldn’t be.

Every nuance of that kiss slammed into him. He’d put all thoughts of it away, thinking it had been a gimmick. A ploy for her to avoid Kaios like she’d said. But had it been only that?

As Tala neared the front of the chapel, Leia’s gaze once again moved to him, skittered away, returned and stayed. Her blue eyes drew him, like the moon holding the ocean in its sway.

He held his breath, fighting every instinct to go to her and drag her out of there.

With a reluctance that bordered on out of control, he shifted to face the front of the chapel, breaking the searing moment of intimacy when he’d rather it go on and on. Thankfully, the ceremony was over in short order—the wedding portion of wolf-shifter matings tended to be brief as everyone wanted to get to the next part. The tension would escalate more and more until they completed their actual mating. The buzz of it filled the room, sending a charge through his system.

Turning again, he sought out Leia, only to find she’d disappeared. Unable to go after her, he kept his expression neutral, searching discreetly for a flash of navy silk or of blond hair. Someone, a woman he assumed, pinched his butt as he followed Marrok and Tala down the aisle. He didn’t bother to discover who. It wasn’t Leia.

She’d never be so crass. Even if he wanted her to.

Yearning and anticipation hung heavy in the air as the gathering made their way out of the chapel, along the river, and over a wooden bridge that led them into the woods. The pheromones were flying. Heady stuff. As their lives were linked in the church, in the mating ceremony, so too were their bodies.

The pull of the alphas, the lust, dragged on Castor, but he forced the sensation to the back of his mind, his attention squarely on finding Leia. Perhaps she was afraid of stirring up the nymphs again or getting into it with her nemesis and ruining the mating? A quick check showed him Kaios was still with the group. She couldn’t be in danger off by herself.

Castor might need saving, however, having already refused three women and peeled one off his right side to plaster her against another man more appreciative of her attentions. He’d already passed one couple who couldn’t wait, going at each other around the side of the chapel. As the group walked, more and more peeled away. The sounds of moans and grunts and heavy breathing started to join those of the breeze and the river.

Once deep in the woods, the wedding guests still with them stopped, allowing the bride and groom to continue on into the trees alone, to a secret spot Marrok would have prepared ahead of time. There they would mate in private…though rumor had it some couples didn’t wait to be secluded before having their fun.

As the guests stood, the need ramped higher. By now he was hard as a rock, heavy and aching in a way he’d never experienced before. More couples paired up and wandered off, unable to resist the need to claim each other that the mating ceremony stirred in their bodies. Not everyone gave into temptation, but many did.

“Are you here with someone?”

Castor glanced down at a brunette who’d been poured into her slinky red dress. “Yes. Sorry.”

She gave him a disappointed pout. “I don’t see anyone here.”

“She gets nervous around nature. Don’t worry, we’ll make up for it later.”

She sighed, managing to squeeze her breasts together at the same time, which did nothing for him. “Nature isn’t a thing to fear. It’s a thing to revel in.” She trailed a hand down his arm.

He plucked her hand away. “I’ll be reveling with my date.”

She tossed her hair. “My loss. If you change your mind…”

He wouldn’t be changing his mind. Only one woman would satisfy him.

A strange rushing noise, similar to the sound of ocean waves, pulled his attention to the river off to his left and Castor froze. Every cell clicked into his power in gut reaction as a wall of water burst up from the bed of the river below.

“What the—” someone exclaimed behind him.

The forest exploded into disarray around them. All of the guests dropped to the ground as the wind whipped the trees into a frenzy. Pine needles rained down, filling the air with their zesty scent. Birds screeched their protest as they abandoned their nests and perches. One of the largest trees groaned a horrible protest as it appeared to uproot, only to be righted by a blast of water.

Several of the guests around him screamed, but none of the chaos approached them, as though they were cocooned in a bubble of protection. Castor’s jaw dropped at the awesome display.

This had to be all the nymphs. Whipping around he searched for her among the chaos. She wasn’t with the guests. Where the hell was she?

Then he found her.

Lyleia. His nymph stood on dry ground at the bottom of the lake near the chapel, though the water didn’t touch her, pushed outward from her body by an invisible force. He doubted anyone else could see her. Although wolves had excellent vision at night, demigods had better, and he’d been searching for her. Somehow, he knew he’d always find her wherever she was.

Eyes glowing an eerie blue, arms raised above her head, she pushed the wall of water higher. A cool mist brushed his face and dampened the fine cloth of his tux.

He knew exactly what she was doing, especially after the little display from the nymphs in the area when they’d been here talking to Calli before. Leia was making a big damn point. Not an attack against her brethren, per se. More a display of her hurt and anger.

He didn’t know how he knew that, but he did.

His nymph was smart. If her family wouldn’t help her, she’d force their wrath, which would, in turn, result in a display of nature run amok. Because in demonstrating, she was whipping up the other nymphs, forcing them to use their powers against her, manifest a “sign from the gods” for Tala and Marrok.

Fear gouged a hole in his chest. Surrounding Leia on all sides were ten or twelve nymphs who were clearly furious, if their scowls and glowing eyes were anything to go by.

“Lyleia.” He barely breathed the word, but she turned her head in his direction, as though called. He started toward her, compelled to help, but halted when she shook her head. Her pale hair swirled around her face, whipped by the winds assailing her.

Nymphs of various kinds—water, air, fire, earth, electricity—raised their hands. In another explosion of sound and shock waves, they pummeled her with the elements they controlled.

Except none of their efforts touched her.

In fact, she pushed away everything they aimed at her, redirecting it over the forest. How she held them off while controlling the water at the same time, he had no idea. She was magnificent in her effortless use of her power.

Did anyone else suspect? Or was her ploy working?

Where the fuck was Kaios?

A glance around him showed none of the other guests had discovered her. All were too focused on the forest going wild around them. Kaios was across the field from where Castor stood, which meant the wall of water should block Leia from the werewolf’s view. But Kaios stood strangely still with an expression akin to fury tightening his features, his lips drawn back in a sneer.

Castor split his attention between Leia and Kaios, but the man stayed where he was.

The culmination of the mating was nearing—instinct screamed at him as pressure seemed to build all around them. Pressure that had nothing to do with Leia’s actions, and everything to do with the mating magic.

The urge to relieve the need pulsing through him grew to an unbearable ache. His hand went to his cock, gripping through the fine cloth of his tux, tugging. It wasn’t enough. He needed to bury himself in the sweet softness of a woman. For hours. His body told him only Leia could assuage the desire riding him hard. Her display of power had him even more turned on. His fear for her safety, and his demigod instinct to protect her, heightened his need even more.

He wanted to rescue her and sweep her away from this place to their own private mating.

Would she even let him touch her? By the gods, he hoped she would.

A burst of desire pummeled through him, like the wave of water Leia wielded. Groans arose through the gathering of wolf shifters and a handful of other magical creatures in attendance, shouts echoing through the woods as couples reached their own completion in turn.

In the same instant, the cacophony of noise from the forest and river ceased. The water splashed back down to the bedrock with an almighty roar. Stark silence settled over the woods.

Marrok and Tala must have completed the mating.

“A sign.” The cry started with one man. “The gods have spoken. They’ve blessed this union.” Quickly the phrase caught on, repeated in hushed whispers by the rest of those who’d witnessed the storm of nature.

For his part Castor inspected the now calm lake with troubled eyes. Where was Lyleia?